Top 10 considerations when changing payroll provider

Top 10 considerations when changing payroll provider

If you are struggling with outdated, inefficient school payroll systems that are wasting money, time and undermining your compliance responsibilities, you are not alone.

Academies and MATs that can no longer “make do” are switching payroll provider and transforming their capabilities. But what are the top 10 factors to consider when doing so?

Thanks to our nearly 20 years of experience, at Strictly Education we know what schools are looking for when it comes to academy payroll and HR management.

1. Functionality.
This is usually the driving purpose for switching to a new school payroll service. You can gain more control of data, processes and staff records. Look for a platform that reduces your administration workload saving time and cost, and answers the compliance challenges you face. Our EduPeople platform, for example, has been designed as one single system that manages your HR, pensions and school payroll together. It improves accuracy through automation, and enhances insight and strategic decision-making through a single view over your entire workforce, either collectively or individually.

2. Control of data and GDPR.
Look for a platform that delivers quick, accurate and up-to-date information at your fingertips. EduPeople is a best-in-class system. One employee record centralises your HR, payroll and pensions data, providing deep-dive detail as well as MAT-level reporting. For GDPR compliance the system has multiple levels of security built in to keep all data confidential, from case management to personal development.

3. Employee self-service website.
HR systems with employee self-service are an excellent way to save time and improve accuracy. Staff can check their own payslips and P60s instantly (rather than wait for them to arrive in the post or lose them in an overflowing inbox), request a holiday day online and verify that all personal details on file are correct. With EduPeople they can do so anywhere, anytime on any device. Staff can take control of updating their own details and managers gain an overview of their team’s data.

4. Security.
Being able to securely access personal data is a top priority for academies and MATs looking to switch school payroll management. If you choose a secure hosted cloud product with an excellent reputation you can bring often-chaotic records up to date, ensuring compliance and banishing paper files from the office. With EduPeople, automation also improves accuracy.

5. Eliminate duplication.
Duplicate data-entry systems multiply your risk and increase downtime problems, so switching to a single source of data is a must. You will save time and avoid the risk of mistakes when you transfer data from one system to another. EduPeople is a real-time platform where a record updated is updated everywhere, producing consistent data that is easy to maintain and eliminates the admin burden of duplicate records. Creating or updating a record only ever has to be done once.

6. Experience.
Payroll and pensions are too important and too sensitive to be handed over to the new kid on the block, so when switching single academy or MAT payroll providers consider the track record and reputation of each provider. At Strictly Education we have nearly 20 years of experience in serving schools and over 50 experts at hand to help you, including CIPP-qualified payroll staff. We have migrated 14,000 employees onto EduPeople across 180 payrolls, so we have the expertise to help, whatever your challenges. Read our most recent case study here.

7. Onboarding.
When you switch to a new academy payroll and HR management system you need the process to be straightforward and streamlined, with the transfer carried out at your pace. With EduPeople you will have a single point of contact throughout set up, a real person ready to help at every stage. We provide robust training and instant access afterwards to self-help guides. We also carry out a parallel run to make sure all is working smoothly, eliminating risk and giving you the reassurance of a safety net before the system goes live.

8. Ongoing support.
Look for a school payroll service that provides ongoing support, not just set-up then a final bill, or “support” via a busy call centre. With EduPeople you will have a named payroll officer as your contact for ongoing support, someone who builds a relationship with you to understand your school and its needs. Because EduPeople  is backed by 50 HR and payroll specialists, you have the peace of mind of knowing we will be by your side whenever you have a question.

9. See before you buy.
It is vital to get a clear idea of what you are buying before investing precious resource in a new school payroll management system. With EduPeople you can request an end-to-end demonstration showing all the benefits to meet a variety of school HR, payroll and pension challenges. A Strictly Education team member will take you through the demo and answer all your questions.

10. Trust.
When it comes to academy payroll and HR management you need a provider you can trust. Absolutely. Clients love working with Strictly Education.

Get in touch to find out more on 0330 123 2549 or at edupeople@strictlyeducation.co.uk we are happy to answer your questions. Alternatively book a discovery call to discuss your challenges and organise a tailored demonstration to show how EduPeople can help address them. You can also find out more in our EduPeople brochure and video on EduPeople here.